Tag: creative blog

Whenever I can I take the opportunityto interview someone from the online world. They could be someone creative, quirky, geeky or a fellow spoonie. I’m really not picky; the whole point of this is to open up dialogue, share with the world and if you wish, bring awareness to your work or a cause. Interviews are open to anyone who wishes to take part so if you’re interested in volunteering please check out the Interview information page.

This time Mija has voluntered to talk about her work as designer for the site Mind-Speaks.com, a site she runs with her two sisters. Read on to find out how she became a designer and what she brings to the sister’s creative blog.

The Interview

Hi. Please tell us a bit about yourself!My name is Mija and I am a 1 out of 3 sisters on Mind-Speaks.com! We all have different disciplines but I work on all things print and web for the site. Right now my favorite things are stickers and stationery.

How did you get into design?I went to school for design and work as a full-time designer. Mind-Speaks.com lets me play and do fun projects I personally love!!

How many years have you been doing it?I have been a designer for over 10 years. We started Mind-Speaks.com in 2010!

What does your design mean to you?
Doing designs for Mind-Speaks helps me really express what I like. I do designs that reflect my fandoms and hobbies! I also do freelance and design for other people. So when I design for Mind-Speaks, it’s truly for myself. I try to make things that I would use personally in my life!

What was the first time you realized that was what you wanted to do?
Probably in 6th grade, we got our first family pc – it was loaded with HP Print Shop. I would play all day on there designing greeting cards to send to family! Each one had A VERA CARD, printed on the back!!

I also grew up a huge fan of Lisa Frank, I collected stationery and stickers like most girls in the early 90s. That stationery influenced me even as a young girl!

What is your proudest moment?
We recently through an Usagi Birthday Bash! Probably one of my favorite things we have done! We got to meet new people who love Sailor Moon as much as we do AND give away tons of stickers and jewelry!

What was the first product/artwork you ever sold?Oh, on Mind-Speaks.com it would probably be my Sailor Moon 3DS cases!!! I might actually bring them back! Right now I am designing stickers and stationery sets on our Etsy.

What are your goals for the future? What do you hope to achieve?
To try to do more events, perhaps buy a table at an artist alley at a local con and join like-minded nerds!

What was the best advice you were ever given?
Stop when it is no longer fun.

Any advice for others wanting to get into design?
You have to think of the design of just more than art onto paper or web, textiles and tangible items also need to be considered! Especially if you are rebranding yourself! You have to also think about everything: fonts, colors, packaging….everything is representing yourself!

Now for some random questions…

If you were the god/goddess of anything, what would it be?
I would love to be a goddess of stationery! I love stationery more than any other paper items. I probably get way too excited when I see an amazing lined envelope!

What would your animal form be?
Oh, I hope it would be a bird. Flying would be amazing and a cooler way of traveling than running around everywhere!

Do you have any fun quirks?
I am a tad OCD, especially with color! Everything always has to be organized or lined up by color. I also love matching sets, so I tend to go overboard when wanting to add so many items into my stationery sets I design! If I see things in my favorite color, I tend to gravitate to it and hope they are also in my sisters’ favorite colors so I can also pick them up one. Especially stationery or washi tape!

Do you collect anything?
I have a nice comic book collection that I share with my husband, we also have action figures to match the comics we have been collecting! My craft area is filled with so many different shades and thickness of paper. also, have a nice vinyl collection of vintage showtunes albums! I bet that last one is random!!!

And finally; time for a shameless plug:
I would love you guys to check Mind-Speaks.com, my craft blog I share with my sisters. We post projects we are working on, DIY instructions, recipes and reviews on local nerd hangouts around Houston, TX. We also sell some stickers, stationery sets and other cutesy items! You can find us on Instagram under: mind__speaks and Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MindSpeaks